the wheel

tonight i went on the big huge wheel in the middle of city center. it was fantastic. m, m and h came with, and it was an amazing view. the christmas lights were beautiful, you could see out to stormont in east belfast, and right down on top of the market. so fun. i think i may go again after the holidays for a daytime view.

also had our afterschools christmas trips yesterday and today. we took the older ones ice skating last night, which was good fun. it does a lot for the ego when a kid calls your name and asks to skate holding your hand. today we went to a garden center a big outside of belfast, and they had a christmas trail that led to santa, and then to reindeer, ducks, goats, sheep and llamas. the kids each got an apple and a book. it was a good trail, but it was a bit hectic keeping everyone together...

so that's us done with afterschools for december. we'll have some cleanup this week and several big youth events. all of these parties and outings are good for the christmas spirit.

days like today

on days like today, we wonder why we sometimes struggle with youth work. we think that working with yp is the best thing in the world. we are willing to forget the events that went down in the worst ever books. we genuinely enjoy spending time with yp and i think that, maybe, on days like today, youth workers and yp walk away with equal amounts of satisfaction.

at the start there were four of them and five of us. we sped through the program and they were actually complimentary about the program we had been running the last four months. four more of them came during the open club time and the mood was light, stress-free and fun. they asked us to play basketball with them, a game of pool (and happily teased us when they saw how bad we were...). we laughed, joked, sang. no discipline was necessary, the craic was good.


******
H sent me an email tonight of her thinking aloud about her future. I thought I would share my reply, and open up the floor for suggestions:

"i like and identify with your random thoughts. the thought of having to look for a paying career related job makes me nauseous. i still dread the question "what do you want to be when you grow up?" uhhhm, me? A nice, normal person? someone better at reading the bible? unfortunately i do not want to be an astronaut or zoologist. i am jealous of my friends who are ALL going into nursing because it is a straight up skill that they can take anywhere...uva, alaska, africa. but alas, i do not want to be a nurse. i'm not into [shelving] yogurt, but [shelving] books is fine with me. the guy who is our interm director is super cool. he does freelance community relations work; people bring him in to facilitate their organization's retreats and planning sessions. he [occasionally] leads sessions on how to talk about controversial issues. that sounds like fun. i want to freelance, but i don't have anything to freelance....it is hard to even make up a job suited for oneself when i don't have a clue what i want to do or what i am good at."

Almost Royalty...

I hung out with the President of Ireland today.

OK, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but I did shake her hand and have a wee conversation about how lovely Virginia is (she and her husband have spent holidays there). She (Mary McAleese) came by FS for a bit as a part of our 10th anniversary celebrations. She shook our hands and spoke with the women's group for about 20 minutes and then came into the sanctuary and gave a 15-20 minute speech without notes. It was interesting, intelligent, unscripted and felt just like she was having a conversation with a room full of people. She talked a lot about the Wall as failure, and how she also envisioned a future without the wall and a shared island of friendly neighbors. She grew up in the Woodvale and went to school in Belfast, so it seemed as though she were really talking from the heart. She specifically addressed the kids and just appeared to be a super sassy cool woman (and her boots rocked). M was the photographer for the event, and he says he got a good shot of me chatting with her and her husband. I will post it when I get it!


Santa visited the afterschools today. Too cute. The kids were fabulous, asking all about his reindeer and how they fly and what they eat and where they've seen Santa. It was good fun.

Second Sunday of Advent

Clonard Monastery had a cross community carol sing service tonight. Three choirs singing fabulous choral music in a church unlike any I've seen. It was beautiful, with wood arches and tiny mosaic tiles the entire way up the walls. At the start of the service they turned out all of the lights, so there were just candles burning, and then they turned on the christmas lights up the posts and on the tree. There was a time for folks to bring gifts and place them up at the crib in the manger (toys and food for the community) and the line of people coming up was endless. It really felt like Christmas.

Yesterday was Megsfest 2007. It was pretty much fabulous. We met at the market (a bit disappointing for its billing as the "Christmas market") and then did some errands. Found the new Wickerman Store (this is exciting!), bought some "stinkin' " cough syrup, saw two of the yp I work with at their coffee shop jobs, bought a fab hat...rented three movies, got Indian take away, watched two movies (Because I Said So and The Holiday), played cards, sang karaoke, laughed A LOT.

New photos posted, check the link on the left!

I think one of the cool things about being in a new place for Christmas is that I really get to see which bits of tradition and celebration I seek out. Sadly, I have no motivation to make our home festive, since I'll be home to enjoy the decor at mom and dad's house, but I did get to put up and decorate the FS Christmas tree today. I hung garland and attempted to hang a few strands of Christmas lights. Last weekend a group of us went on the Christmas tour of Belfast Castle. Their decorations were scarce, and most of the castle/big house is now meeting rooms, but the views are amazing and it was nice to get geared up for a special event. Plus, there was complimentary tea, coffee and mince pies. After our tour we took over the courtyard for my Christmas photo shoot (in an attempt to get a "cute belfast photo") and then just went a bit nuts. It was good fun. Then on Sunday, 10 of us gathered at F's home to bake Christmas cookies. We had so many cookies, and they were all amazing. We rotated our cookies through the ovens and ate cookie dough and bumped elbows and watched Riverdance.

To top it off, tonight B had a concert for the Christian Firefighter's Association. It was mostly a carol sing, with bits of the Christmas scriptures and a brief Christmas message. It was a really refreshing night.

Yea for Christmas, more fun to come :)

Updated Top Ten Things I Love About Belfast

1. sitting in the front row of the top level of a double decker bus
2. in one day it can be rainy, sunny, partly cloudy, windy
3. they know how to wear their scarfs
4. chai lattes with tea AND coffee
5. knowing that i have friends in the little white house on black mountain that can be seen from everywhere in belfast and has the best view in all of belfast (even better than the castle)
6. photo shoots on the grounds of a castle/big house
7. the Secret Millionare tv program(me)
8. Brit Rock, Pop and Boy Bands
9. finally beginning to understand their language
10. complimentary coffee, tea and mince pies

****
I'm not good with the word ironic, even though Mrs Nelson would cry to hear that. This seems ironic, let me if know that's true. Thanks.

Last night we had a facilitator in from NICEM (Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities). She did the island exercise with the yp: you have 20 character profiles and have to pick 12 to go to an island where they will live in isolation for 50 years as they start a new society. As I'm listening to various groups discuss, I hear a debate about bringing clergy. One yp says "yea, bring the clergy man because religion unites people together." The faciliator (also an American, but she's been in Belfast for several years) and I chuckle to hear that coming out of the mouth of a Catholic male living on an interface in Northern Ireland...

several thanksgiving photos posted...link is on the left. enjoy!

Yea for an international Thanksgiving. I think I learned more about Thanksgiving in the last week than ever before in preparation for our Thanksgiving feast. Since the majority of our attendees were German, we needed to fill in the blanks and explain why we are so incredibly gluttonous on the fourth Thursday of November. And I made them do a cold reading of the one act play "The Ugly Turkey." For a bunch of first time Thanksgiving hosts, we did a pretty fabulous job of recreating our favorite dishes, name cards, table placements, and party games. It was a good night of food and friends.

And for a brief rant: X Factor is ridiculous. I swear, British voters are off their rockers. Bring back Daniel, Future Proof and Beverly.

Also spent Friday night at our favorite(?) pub. Live Irish music session, old friends (5 months=old) and new, all it was missing was a bit of a jig (reminiscent of Titanic), but none of us drink enough to start that....

Heat is an amazing thing. M and I finally caved yesterday and decided to run our heating for THREE long hours a day instead of the one that it had been on before. And it really is a beautiful thing. We've decided that it is weird to be "grown up" and thinking about things like heating costs and telephone bills.

Happy Thanksgiving to any Americans reading. I have to be honest, in light of all the inquires as to why we celebrate Thanksgiving, I had to do a quick google search and brush up my Thanksgiving facts v. Thanksgiving fiction. It was pretty enlightening and now I am armed with official wikipedia tidbits. Our Thanksgiving bash will take place this Saturday, most likely with more Germans in attendance than Americans. Seems to be a theme these days...

I spent last weekend in the tiny town of Castlewellan. I went for a(nother) training with a(nother) youth org in Belfast. The content wasn't really anything new, just a good juxtaposition of youth work training and social work problem solving methods, but the company and conversation were worth it. The group petitioned for an afternoon break on Saturday, to walk around the fabulous park that was just outside our doorway. And then it rained. I, however, got stubborn, and decided to walk anyway, so off I went on my own, in the rain, to search out a castle. I found the castle (see below) and deemed the walk my "Thanksgiving Walk." Every year, after Thanksgiving dinner, my aunts, mom, sisters and I try to walk off a few of the calories. I don't know how much it helps, but I have memories of walking through woods with leaves the colors of fire, and walking under street lamps as snow flurries began to fall. Unfortunately, this year, the family isn't the memory, but at least there's a castle.


We're gearing up for Christmas now (OK, let's be real, I've been ready for 3 weeks). The big switch on of Christmas lights at City Hall was on Tuesday night, with Shayne Ward singing (previous X-Factor winner). I had to work, but we still heard bits of the screaming crowd during our detached walk two(?) miles outside of town. The Continental Christmas Market is up and running on City Hall grounds now, too. I had big plans to go yesterday morning, and then, in true Belfast fashion, it poured. I will go and bring back photos for you though. Even in the construction phase last week it looked pretty cool, with tons of huts and pavilions built for these next three weeks. We've got a tour of Belfast Castle scheduled, a cookie baking night, Christmas dinner for our yp in the center and on the streets...it's an exciting four weeks. (Not to mention a trip home in one month+1 day!)

I got an email from TOMS shoes yesterday. I love this company. They sell these super cool shoes, and for every pair purchased, they make second pair for kids in Africa or South America. I went and read their blog (got all teary-eyed) and then began thinking like a social worker. Does giving one pair of new shoes to a child really change his life? Wouldn't it be better to teach them how to make shoes instead? But you know, when I get to thinking this way, I feel defeated. Poverty and inequality seems too big to overcome. Maybe new shoes today doesn't change much (Paolo Nutini would disagree) but the compassion an]d humanity shown through that action is just as important. It may not be enough, but it is one guy doing his best, and if 50,000 pairs of shoes, put onto the feet of children one by one, is just the beginning of this guy's best, I've got a lot of catching up to do.

best gifts ever (it's not that I haven't loved EVERY gift ever given to me-it's just that it is pretty durn cold):

the wool socks from mom and dad that make it seem as though i am walking on clouds
the green sock/bootie-like things from heather
knee socks from megan (a MUCH better option than thermal underware)

thank you for these gift that are trying their hardest to keep me warm on these icy, cold, windy nights.

***

It has been a good week. Monday was really just a lovely day. I went to a training with the Red Cross for their School Speaker Program. We'll be going into the schools and doing presentations about child soldiers, HIV/Aids and other humanitarian issues. I've done a lot training in the last five months, and this was definately one of the best since it was good information, casual and conversational. The other two volunteers in training either have or are working on Master's degrees in International Humanitarian Law, so the conversations were facinating. Although, it throws me off again in terms of "what I want to do with my life." Humanitarian Law sounds intriguing, and I've loved all of the work I have done with branches of the Red Cross...anyone want to tell me what I should do with my life? Someone told dad to be an engineer, and so he is, I'd be happy with a suggestion or two :)

That night was book club, at a fabulous little coffee shop. But we (I) read The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man (no one else finished it) and I learned a very important lesson: I really do not care what James Joyce has to say about religion, art or beauty, and I am not a fan of his book. Who decided that stream of consiousness writing was a good literary style?

Chinese welfare association came out to the youth programme on Tuesday, open club Wednesday, detached tonight (thank goodness for big, warm detached coats, the weather caught me off guard).

AND, the new BVSers have arrived in NI/Ireland. I have met one of the five, and she's fantastic. It's good to have several more Americans around to help out with our Thanksgiving dinner in a few weeks. Looks like we may have a big crowd. I do love Thanksgiving, but I have decided that I also like the fact that there are no other holidays between Halloween and Christmas in this country. Makes me feel not so bad for listening to Christmas music, obsessing over Christmas gifts, and appreciating Christmas tunes and decorations nearing full swing all over the city.

The fun began at 12:03 last night. Since we were all awake, J and M stopped by my doorframe to wish me a happy birthday. J brought me pralines and a big decorative gingerbread cookie from his last trip home to Germany. It was completely unexpected and really very nice. When I got up super early for the final day of youth work training, I ate the cinnamon toast crunch cereal that mom and dad sent in my birthday box. Then the assessment morning at youth work training, which wasn't too painful...and coffee at a nice little cafe in the city. It's a place I had never been before (and won't go again because it was way too pricey) but I finally had that feeling of sitting in a small European city, feeling sophisticated and grown up. I have to remind myself that this is my life. A bit of browsing in a gormet food shop and a bit of buying in the metro tesco and I headed home for a quite afternoon of reading, cleaning, baking, and opening the gifts from home.

Part 2 started around six when N and F joined us (me, M and J) for tacos (thanks mom and dad). N found me the poptarts that I have been craving and a box of chocolate and F brought a home baked marble cake. M, F, and J gave me a card they made with a photo that M took and a picture F drew, and to top it off, M said that his gift to me is a trip on the Belfast Wheel. It's a bit overwhelming, I suppose. It's easy to forget how many people really care, and today I am just blown away by their thoughtfulness. Thanks, friends.

And Part 3, which was the only real intentional piece on my end. We all went to the Lyric theatre to see Truth in Translation. It was an amazing musical that showed the reconciliation process in South Africa through the eyes of the interpretors who translated the Truth Commission proceedings into the local languages. The music made me want to dance, clap, cry and sing, the topic just made me plain curious to learn about the reconciliation process. I realize that I was around 11 when it all began and I have no recollection of any news from South Africa...I think it was a brilliant way to present such a sensitive issue since the audience can identify with the interpretors as characters (as opposed to perpetrators or victims) and through them, work through the things they did: taking on the identities of those they interpreted for, their identity of white or black and their roles in the community, their understanding of what was going on while they were safe at home in their middle class homes. It's a very cool project, check out the link: http://www.truthintranslation.org/

So thank you everyone, for the emails, phone messages, gifts, cards, facebook messages, and the thought you put into making today special.

I suppose every country needs its excuse to set of fireworks. The US has the 4th of July, I'm told it's New Year's Eve in Germany. Here in Northern Ireland? It's Halloween. There are quite obviously plenty of outlets for illegal fireworks, lighting up the entire city and makig it sound as though it were under siege. I really would have liked to watch it all from the mountain, it would have been a fabulous show, but it was pretty exciting to experience Halloween right in the middle of it all. Few of the yp were about, so it wasn't too successful as a night of detached work, but really, I've never seen anything like it. Literally every corner of the city had major firework shows (although only one was official), with real, Washington DC-on-the-4th-of-July size fireworks. We saw some people setting them off in pretty stupid ways...but we (and the people we were passing) appeared to make it through the night ok.

I took a field trip to Glengormley today. It a small suburb just north of Belfast, and their library was the closest that had the book I need. Due to completely illogical policies, I had to go to them to pick up the book (libraries in NI need help). I go on the bus, no problem, and confirmed with the bus driver that this bus stopped in Glengormley. This led to a conversation about where the stop was that left me utterly faithless in my ability to communicate. Eventually I just nodded and sat down, clueless. And then I got a bit anxious. How the heck would I know where I was and when to get off? I texted M, who was great, and sent me the names of the two biggest stops just before mine. And when we passed those and I began to panic, I turned to the gentleman across the aisle, admitted my ignorance and learned that he could not hear. Apparently he reads lips pretty well, got the jist of glen-gorm-ley, and was ever so kind to put away his book and direct me as to when to get off. Mission accomplished.

I get off the bus and attempt to look intent upon reaching my destination, except that I have no idea how to get to my destination. So I walk. I call into a charity shop (there's a great skirt on the rack, but I don't feel like shopping) and ask the woman at the counter for directions to the library. Finally I set out, for the first time, actually intent upon reaching my destination. Lesson learned in the past two years: there's nothing quite like the feeling of successfully using resources and accomplishing small adventures on your own. Like all libraries, it was small, and it took about one minute to pick up the book, but it was in a pretty neighborhood so I walked for a bit and stood under the trees out front, listening to the birds sing as though it was the first day of spring.

The rest of the day I spent reading. I read in Clements over coffee and a panini, I read in the Central Library. It's so refreshing to have a day on my own, productive still, but relaxing.

obviously I loved that film...I unintentionally blogged about it twice...you get the point.

I am watching Newsies as I write, so please excuse my typos and random bursts of song...

Today in Europe we set our clocks back. The end of Daylight Savings Time is always bittersweet: sweet for the extra hour of sleep (which mean I did NOT oversleep for church as originally thought), but bitter because it is 5:09 pm and nearly dark. The last Sunday in March is a long way away.

In chuch today was Boys Brigade Sunday. I suppose BB is basically the Boy Scouts of Britian, except that it is a specifically Christian organization. Because of that, they sang the National Anthem, "God Save the Queen." It wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as when I was in the GAA club with the Irish National Anthem. Is it because, technically speaking, "God Save our Queen" IS the national anthem and, technically speaking, the Union Jack IS the national flag, or is it some unfounded and unconscious bias? Why should either effect me as a neutral foreign national (and from a country that absconded from the Queen at that?)

****

Yesterday (all day) was the leaving do for the several staff members who are leaving. Those people know how to party. The shindig began with Chinese at a nice restuarant. I don't know how I do it, but I always end up accidentally ordering the same thing, and then wishing I had ordered what someone else does. And then the next time, I end up ordering the honey and chili sauce, again. When we're out for Chinese next, PLEASE remind me to try something better! After that we moved up to a super swanky new bar for the next...FIVE? SIX? hours? I couldn't keep up and left early, but had several great conversations. The best part of the night, though, was the phone call from the party that I wasn't at. Dixie girls, it was SO fabulous to hear from you, THANKS for the call, I am still so bummed that I couldn't be there.

****

The Belfast Wheel will be opening soon. I'm taking a poll- is it worth £6 for the experience?


****

I saw "Once" last week. (Does a movie's title go in quotations?) It's a low budget indie film, filmed in Dublin. The lead in the frontman of The Frames, and the movie is FABULOUS. You need to like the music, because that is the plot, but if you're into Damien Rice and other wine and candle type music, check it out.

That's this week's excitement. Oh, right, I did get a haircut this week! Only, it's not photoworthy, because it's more of a trim than the dramatic cut I was anticipating. At least it's a start to fixing the awfulness of the last haricut... But if you're needing more excitment, check out the other blogs in the links to the left. They have great stories to share.

No deep thoughts, just a fantastic day:

Long walk
Tacos
Coffee with a new friend who doubles as a superb tour guide
Christmas Shopping (on impulse, it's always better when you happen to run into what you're looking for!)
Milkshake
Queens Film Theatre with a friend to see "Once" which is FANTASTIC. See it, get the soundtrack, love The Frames

And last night I finished reading "A Town Like Alice" by Nevile Shute. It is a lovely read...I can't describe it, just check it out, it's good.

I've just finished reading the Sharing BVS newsletter, which our European Coordinator so diligently compiles from emails, reports and blogs of the European volunteers. I have to admit, reading it always makes me a bit giddy, remembering what it is that I am really a part of in BVS. It also leaves me in awe of the other volunteers and the amazing work they are doing. If you'd like to read it/share it with anyone you know, I'd love to send it your way. Remembering is good for me, especially tonight, when I'n desperately trying to reign in my boomeranging emotions.

Afterschools was mad today. We were "understaffed" (i.e. we had a normal number of staff and volunteers, rather than our typical 1:2.5 ratio) so it felt like the two hours lasted 8. And looking forward, we have marathon Halloween events coming up this Friday and next (7 hours of Afterschools on both nights), so if I haven't posted in awhile, you may want to check up on me...

And then tonight, we took our multicultural group to the Indian Community Center here in Belfast. It was a really great night they had planned for us: a chat about India, the location, religion, culture, information about their gods and goddesses (they have 330 million!) while sitting in their temple, sari demonstrations, Indian snacks and henna. The boys were totally into it, sat really respectfully through the talk in the temple and asked great questions. The girls drove me mad at their lack of respect and completly rude behavior. Seriously, they're 15-18 years old...

To dwell on the interesting bits (and bobs, as the NI say): the temple resembled a party store explosion. The colors were fabulously bright, the columns were wrapped in rope lights, there were glittering banners, garlands and streamers. Someone asked why it was festive, our host consulted the temple priest and said that it was to invoke joy, happiness. It's easier to feel happy when the environment is bright. He also pointed out that India is a very warm place, tropical in a sense, and how do people in places like that dress? In Hawaii, you wear bright colors, flowers and prints that you'd never wear in Belfast. The colors and glitter bring India to this cool northern city.

The food was great- don't know what it was or what it's called, but it was good. And the woman who dressed us in saris was wonderfully sweet (and gracious even when our girls got pushy). There was an Indian drum demonstration, and it turns out the drummer goes (went?) to school with some of our yp. After the talk in the temple, one of the boys asked if he could put a donation in the box at the alter. He's one of the toughest in terms of ethnic slurs and assumptions; those are the moments that make it seem like something is actually sinking in. That makes it worthwhile.

Apparently Halloween is the whole month of October over here. It's firecracker and fireworks time (which makes our detached walks that much more exciting). And tonight I had trick-or-treaters. I've got to admit, the boys were cute. All in costume and make-up, with their plastic pumpkin pail, they sang me an enitre wee song. I checked their bucket, and they had some Haribo sweets and a handful of coins, so I emptied my wallet of the one and two p coins that were weighing it down. Afterward, I sent a text to my friend, a native of Belfast, to make sure trick-or-treating happens on the 31st here and she said yes. Apparently, kids will go out all month to collect easy change. And I was a gullible foreigner... needless to say, when the two girls knocked on my door an hour later (older sisters, I presume), I reminded them that Halloween is October 31st and told them to come back then.

nonviolence

My head hurts after an intense week of learning. My heart is craving to change the world. My mind is wondering if it's really worth it, for one, and if I even have the dedication to reroute the direction of my comfy life.

We've had a team in from The Institute for The Study and Practice of Nonviolence in Providence, Rhode Island. Since Monday, they've been conducting a "Training of Trainors," teaching us how about the theories and practice of nonviolence and teaching us how to teach others the same. It's been great, but mentally exhausting. The prinicples and steps are based on Martin Luther King, Jr's teachings, so we learn about the Civil Rights Movement in the US and then about types of conflict, the principles of the theory and the steps in solving conflict through nonviolence. And then we present that information back individually, in small bits by small groups, and then an overview of everything in small groups. I am amazed at how creative we were able to be when it was required.

When I sat down to write this, I think I intended to outline what I've learned, but to be honest, I'd rather just zone out right now...and you probably aren't all that interested anyway...

But the one thing that has been interesting (convicting? uncomfortable? crappy?) to mull over is the definition of violence and nonviolence. I wonder if inaction can be considered violence? I think we would agree that child neglect (inaction, not caring for) is a form of violence. But if inaction is violent, then I am a perpetrator of violence in Darfur? Burma? Belfast? Washington DC? In not taking a stand, in not working toward confrontation, justice, equality, I am letting violence happen. And if I claim to attempt an honest, nonviolent lifestyle, I can't be content with that.

In other random sociological thinking, I got a letter from my sister, talking about rebuilding neighborhoods. She was referencing the rebuilding of New Orleans neighborhoods, wondering if the efforts are working toward getting community members back in their homes, or if they are heading toward gentrification. And so we wonder, how can you rebuild, or even just improve a community, for the people who actually live there. In our world where extravagence is often equal to developmenet, how can a neighborhood, an area, a country be developed FOR the people who live there? Does this even make sense? I was walking through the neighborhoods here in Belfast today and wondered, if this area were redeveloped, if that wasteland were cleaned up, could the people who live here now still maintain a life here, or would they have to move to another rundown place that they could afford?

Right, now my head hurts even more. But there have been exciting bits of the rest of the week. I went to a book club on Monday night. I was nervous about it because I had to ride buses on lines I wasn't familiar with, and I had no idea what kind of people would be hosting and attending. And, sure, it was a bit akward, but beyond that, it was so good. It's a group of girls and guys who are right around my age, who like to read (well most do) and just want to meet informally to chat. We read Vernon God Little this week (almost an updated Catcher in the Rye, don't read it if you're sensitive to cursing), and since most people didn't make it the whole way through, mostly focused on plot summary. However, there are some folks who sounds like lit majors and whether they are or not, it'll keep me on my toes! In the end, I think it'll be good craic.

On Wednesday night I went to the women's group at church. They are a sassy bunch. We did a take off of Ready, Steady, Cook (similar to Top Chef) and had to assemble our snacks for the evening. My team lost the challenge, but it was okay because I spent the evening chatting to two fabulous older ladies and two of the nicest highschool aged girls I have met in this city.

BVS News

I just got an email today from BVS, with the most recent volunteer newsletter attached. Check out it, there's a really great article written by a couple who are serving at a guest house for families who are visiting a wife, mother, daughter in prison.
http://www.brethren.org/genbd/bvs/volunteer/Fall2007.pdf

If you want to flip through the archives, there are tons of amazing stories. The article I wrote with my roommate in CA is in the Spring 2006 newsletter, and some of my good friends and another CA roommate wrote for the Summer 2006 one.

Also, if you're interested in any other BVS info, or know someone who may be interested in a year of volunteer work in the states or abroad, here's the webpage: http://www.brethrenvolunteerservice.org/

Seriously, unbelievable opportunites (even if sometimes people throw fire crackers at you...)

Relevant Mag Online Article

From Relevant Magazine On-Line: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god_article.php?id=7421

(there are lots of links in the article, and I'm not activated them all on here. Check out the actual website if you want to read them!)

News: No Church Today
Morgan Kirk

Involvement in the community is an essential element in most every church, but an article posted on Beliefnet.com last week reported an interesting endeavor that takes community service a step further. Calvary Community Church in Sumner, Wash., and Sanctuary Church in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., both canceled their recent Sunday worship services in favor of community service projects.

The two churches participated in a four-week course in conjunction with the "Faith in Action” program. The following Sunday after the course’s completion, they were encouraged to get involved within their communities as opposed to attending a typical worship service. Recently, Sanctuary visited senior living centers and spent time with the elderly, while Calvary’s response to community service was equally successful and positive.

The trend continues in other parts of the country as well. Grace Community Church in Wesley Chapel, Fla., had nearly 90 percent of the regular church members in attendance for their day of action. This blog highlights their involvement within the community. The congregation built picnic tables for a foster home, cooked meals at a crisis pregnancy center and helped out at a local school.

Earlier this year, the North Coast Church hosted a Weekend of Service devoting their Saturday and Sunday worship to more than 90 community service projects. This article expands on their reasoning behind the weekend.

According to a story in the Asheville Citizen-Times, Covenant Community Church in North Carolina also canceled three of their morning services when the minister, Claude Kayler, said, “Don’t go to church. Be the church.” Covenant’s service projects included cleaning toilets in convenience stores, repairing chain-link fences at a daycare and assembling care packages for the homeless.

Steve Hambrick, Executive Director of the Central Florida Wesley Foundation in Orlando, Fla., commends the concept. “Church is not defined by the four walls,” he says. “The idea of getting outside the four walls that we’ve created in our culture and going to those who actually have need is a much clearer picture of what true, New Testament Christianity is supposed to look like.”

In the past, The Wesley Foundation has been involved in numerous volunteer activities that encourage community relations, such as catering to the children at foster homes and bringing potluck lunches to the homeless of downtown Orlando. The organization has yet to cancel weekly services for community service projects but offers other days to focus on communal relations.

While some praise these churches’ feats, others aren’t so sure. One anonymous commenter on the article “Churches Cancel Services to Serve” asked why the congregation insisted on canceling worship services altogether instead of offering both a Saturday volunteer program and a Sunday service.

Most churches find that the level of participation for community service is higher on Sundays, but the “Faith in Action” website says, “If your church is unable to plan community service events on Sunday, plans may be adapted for Saturday, or immediately following a regular Sunday morning worship service.”

Hambrick says that the danger lies in a once-a-month, outward expression of community service that doesn’t carry over to tomorrow. “If it doesn’t become part of our daily lifestyle, then it’s not as productive as it can be,” he says.

Stacey Armstrong, Community Development Director for Calvary, would like to make servicing the poor and needy a vital part of her congregation. Each of the churches expressed their hope to expand projects and encourage the events to reoccur. Kayler says, “It’s not just this one-day thing.”

I am in love with Derry.

I won tickets to a FiddleFest for this past weekend, in Derry. Amazingly, plans worked out fairly easily for me to take the bus up on Saturday, attend the events on Saturday and Sunday, stay with a past BVS-er who's working there, and get a lift back to Belfast with her on Monday. And everything about the weekend was class.

Saturday afternoon I just wandered. I had never been to Derry, so I picked up brochures at the Visitor Center and took a self guided tour. Derry (aka Londonderry) is know as the Maiden city, because it has old stone walls the surround the entire city center, and which have never been breeched in any of the three major siezes (very different walls than the "peace walls" of Belfast, although they have a few of those, too). It's the oldest continually inhabited city in Ireland (Northern Ireland?) and saw a lot of the conflict of the "Troubles." Half of the city, the Bogside, a Catholic area, completely barricaded itself in, effectively barricading the British army OUT. There's a huge mural that declares "You are now entering Free Derry" since they would not be overtaken and controlled by the army. The breaking of those barriers, during a civil rights march, is what led to bloody sunday (as sung by Bono) and 14 deaths. I'll post lots of pics of the city, the walls and the murals soon. The whole city is just packed with history, ancient and a new (with riots just this past weekend), stone walks, churches with gardens just tucked into the corners, right on the river Foyle. It's also full of up and coming artists, tons of live music and cozy pubs.

The live music and pubs is what I took advantage of for most of the weekend. The first event I was able to attend was Turtle Island Quartet, a string quartet out of Oakland, CA. They play their classical strings insruments in crazy ways to get bluegrass, folk, rock, Indian, Latin American sounds. Then on Sunday, I went to see the movie, The Red Violin. If you haven't seen it, do. It's just a really beautiful film, with a great score. After that was Candles in the Cathedral with French violinist David Grimal, playing two classical pieces in, get this, the huge old cathedral, candlelit for the occasion. And then to top it off, I went to Sandinos (a fabulous pub and concert venue) for Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, a cajin band out of Louisianna. Billed as "infectious," and I'd fully agree.

To round out an already excellent weekend, I had an amazing hostess, who cooked delicious food, provided a comfy guestroom and really great conversation. It was tough to come back to Belfast, but I'm re-inspired to find the history, cozy pubs, and good friends here.

And a quick note about this week: we had drumming lessons for our mulitcultural group last night. African drums, Irish drums, marimbas...it was so loud, and great fun.

random thoughts from the Roast

I was sitting in one of my favorite coffee shops last week, eating a scone and drinking a chai steamer, and listening to their music: old school Michael Jackson. Heal the World came on. I've got to admit, I'm a fan. It evokes memories of purple leotards and flowing skirts, of ballet moves and lyical shoes. Plus, I think it's even a wee bit inspiring (ok, cheesy, too, but if you can get past that...). So humor me:

There's A Place In Your Heart
And I Know That It Is Love
And This Place Could Be Much
Brighter Than Tomorrow
And If You Really Try
You'll Find There's No NeedTo Cry
In This Place You'll Feel
There's No Hurt Or Sorrow

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

If You Want To Know Why
There's A Love That Cannot Lie
Love Is Strong
It Only Cares For Joyful Giving
If We Try We Shall See
In This Bliss We Cannot Feel
Fear Or Dread
We Stop Existing And Start Living

And The Dream We Were
Conceived In Will Reveal A Joyful Face
And The World We Once Believed In
Will Shine Again In Grace
Then Why Do We Keep Strangling Life
Wound This Earth Crucify Its Soul
Though It's Plain To See This World Is Heavenly
Be God's Glow

We Could Fly So High
Let Our Spirits Never Die
In My Heart I Feel You Are All
My Brothers
Create A World With No Fear
Together We'll Cry Happy Tears
See The Nations Turn
Their Swords Into Plowshares

We Could Really Get There
If You Cared Enough
For The Living
Make A Little Space
To Make A Better Place...

(if you prefer to hear/watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8-HcclFytw . I am such a geek it makes me get a bit teary...)


OK, so I'm sitting there, getting all sappy, listening to MJ (Free Willy songs follows on the CD they're playing) and at the same time I'm reading 'Working for Change: Making a Career in International Public Service,' by Derick W. Brinkerhoff and Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff. I get to pg 18 and read these thoughts from Ram Dass and Paul Gorman, "The more you see yourself as a 'helper,' the more need for people to play the passive 'helped.' You're buying into, even juicing up, precisely what people who are suffering want to be rid of: limitation, dependency, helplessness, separateness." The authors go on to say "Emphasizing 'helping' can actually alienate us from those with whom we seek to connect." "What otherwise could be a profound and intimate relationship becomes ships passing in the night. In the effort to express compassion, we end up feeling estranged. It's distressing and puzzling."

Interesting thoughts to mull over during a year of volunteer work/service and while listening to MJ croon about fixing the world...how do we do it? I believe it can be done, we can begin to heal our world, and on an individual basis, maybe it is that easy. Recycle, tutor, pray, live your life in community. But what about when we want more than that? Is there more? Or is it really just the small choices we make every day?


In other mission news...I listen to the Relevant Magazine Podcast (and reccomend it because it is fabulous and thought provoking sometimes and hilarious all the time with lots of great live music and interviews...). One of this week's news slices was about World Vision joining up with Zondervan and providing resources for churches on a movement to take the last Sunday of every month "off" from typical services, and spend it in the community doing some sort of service/mission work. Fabulous, huh?!? I can't find a website for this exactly yet, but here's some basic info if you're interested: https://www.worldvision.org/Worldvision/guest.nsf/fia_materials?Open&lid=topnav_church_fia&lpos=topnav

check your junk mailbox

I sent out a "three month" email last week. If you didn't get, but think you should have, check your junk mail box, although, if you're reading the blog, it'll be a fairly boring email anyway.

oh boy, so much to write and I can't think of it all...

oh, yes!! FS's 10th Anniversary Celebration was last weekend. We kicked off the weeked with a Funday, for which the police blocked of one lane of the mainroad and opened the gates in the wall (which are never open, except for the pedestrian door). It was a great day, warm, somewhat sunny, and everything ran so smoothly. We had two bouncy castles, a mechanical bull, sumo wrestling, jousting, face painting, a dj and a bbq. Kids from both sides of the wall mixed and mingled and walked confidently through the open gates.

Sunday was the 60km cycle, which I had absolutely no part in. But I did work!! Those of us not cycling set up the building for Monday's ceremony, which was a huge success. There were, probably, over 100 people who came out. Lots of speakers (former board members, the director, several community folks), but the best two bits were the video that a team from Orlando put together as a documentary-ish video of FS (several yp gave interviews for it) and the dance that a group of girls performed.

As an added bonus, the BVS European coordinator came in town for the celebration, and took all of the current BVSers out for Indian food. The next night, we met with all of the ex-BVSers who are still in Northern Ireland. Of the nine of us there, two are current BVSers, one just moved in with her boyfriend, two are married to each other, one is engaged and two others are married. Northern Ireland must do something to people....

In other FS news, three of our full time staff members are leaving the last week in October. I think that leaves about five staff members, part time and full, so it should be a bit exciting around the organization for awhile. It's good that no one is leaving with any angry or disillusioned feelings, it just so happens that it's all at the same time, I suppose. And on the same sad leaving note, one of the other BVSers here in Belfast just got denied her visa renewal...which makes me want to cry...and then selfishly, makes me wonder what I need to be realistically considering for next year (all suggestions welcome).

Programs are pretty much up and running now. Afterschools is in full swing, and, ok, I'll admit that they are growing on me. I love them one on one, it's just a bit nuts when there's 17 in the room at once. It makes it so much better than it could be, though, thanks to the number of volunteers. It actually makes it pretty low key, and allows for a lot of individual or small group attention.

Youth club started last week with a trip to an outdoor activity center. We took a second group tonight and both were fabulous. We did team building games, a traverse wall, a few caving activities. The yp were completely engaged and the staff there was great with them. This week we had an open club night, that also came off pretty well. At least there was no rioting, like the last time FS tried an open club awhile back.

Life outside of work is a bit less exciting...America's Next Top Model starts here next Monday. If I'm not totally psyched to watch skinny girls make drama out of nothing, at least it's a set social evening. I'm treating myself to a play at the Waterfront tomorrow night, and possibly going by myself...liberating? pathetic? (maybe it won't come to that). And I responded to an online ad regarding a local book club. Is that sketchy? I have no idea who these people are or how old they are or even what the book is about that they're reading, but I'm getting nearer to desperate...how's that for a positive ending note?

Apparently Ireland played Namibia on Sunday, not Portugal. Like I said, I slept through most of it. :)

Just wanted to write again today because it was a great day. I read Colossians this morning and got a good dose of (well needed) attitude adjustment. We've been looking a various parts of Colossians at church and talking about our standards in our lives, our work, our church. Everytime I start reading my Bible on a daily basis life seems to go a bit better, so you'd think I'd get it by now and just take some time every morning, but no, of course not. Today I did though, so it was good.

Afterschools was sweet. It was the first day for the older ones, and we only had three show up. It was a bit overwhelming with three kids and nine staff/volunteers, but it was really wonderful, too. We got to talk and play a lot with them, give them tons of attention. And the ones who wind them all up either weren't there or were missing their buddies, so it was all rather calm.

Afterward we had the kick off youth trip. Again, our numbers were small, most of the yp who signed up didn't show up, so it was 11 yp and seven staff/volunteers. We went to Belfast Activity Center and worked with some great people who lead us in team building games. We did a bit of climbing, one or two activities on/in the caves (claustrophia at its best) and the yp specificially asked to be paired up in this group for the rest of the year.

Plus, two of our yp made the front page of The Irish News for the photo launch yesterday. If you check out the website (www.irishnews.com) tonight you can click on the front page to see the photo.

Highlights

It's been a full week again, bear with me as I figure out what I've done this past week.

Saturday was the final night of Proms in the Park 2007. My friends have been told that if you don't know what that it, you are uncultured. Needless to say, we all fell under that description. However, we got the chance to experience it first hand when their coworker (boss?) gave them a handfull of extra (free) tickets. So after my nine hour child protection training (split over Friday and Saturday. I know it really should get its own paragraph as a highlight...) I hopped on a train to Carrickfergus. Well known for its fabulous castle that sits right on the water, the town immediately hooked me. I didn't have much time to explore, but the narrow streets and brick roads had that little village feel, you know the one you get watching the beginning of Beauty and the Beast, or walking through Sterling, Scotland. I did get a very brief look in the castle, and then met up with the rest of the group to queue for the Proms.

We got in quickly because of our lack of "furniture" (ie: lawn chairs), and B picked out a fantastic spot for us to spread out our blankets on the tarmac. We settled in as people filled in around us (apparently, lawn chairs are the norm) and delved into our picnic dinners, our books (I was desperately trying to finish Eragon) and a game of Uno.

The program was the Ulster Orchestra, playing a wide variety of songs, with various soloists and others in to spice things up. There was a fantastic group that played (which I have no idea how to describe. But they were good. And fun.) traditional-ish Irish Music, and an Irish dancer for a bit. Then a soprano, a tenor, a trumpeter, and a concert accordian player. A children's choir of all the schools in Carrickfergus (catholic, protestant and integrated) sang Danny Boy, and throughout the whole concert there were live feeds between the other venues in England, Scotland and Wales. It's one of those rare opportunities to feel like a normal adult, living, working and taking part in community events. Thanks M and B for the invite.

Rugby World Cup began this week. Who knew the US had a team? They play tomorrow, I'll let you know if they're any good...Northern Ireland plays with Ireland in rugby, so I watched the Ireland- Portugal game on Sunday (ok, so I slept through most of it) and Ireland won easily, but not as easily or as well as expected.

Yesterday was the launch of the photo project. It was held at a nearby conference center, and several folks from the housing executive (the funders) attended. There was a camera crew for the local news (which I have yet to find on tv), a teacher from a local school, several other well dressed people I couldn't place, and all of the young people involved in the project. Their photos were displayed all around the room, a few gave little talks and even interviews for the news. It was great to see them amazed think at people were there because of them and their work. Even though they acted tough, I think they were pretty pleased. I walked out of the event thinking, again, of just how much I enjoy the young people.

And Afterschools started up yesterday. There are still two groups (wee ones are 4-8ish, older ones 8-11ish). The wee ones come for 2 hours on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays and the older ones come for 2 hours on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. A real schedule is setting in.

With no extravagent or nature-y trips this week, I had to wait to gather some exciting adventures for your reading pleasure. So to back track...spent the end of last week cleaning. We cleaned chairs, we mopped the big hall floor, cleaned out two closets, mopped another room, put together new sofas (well, mostly, except for the few screws that didn't really fit...), you get the idea.

Saturday night I went out with two other volunteers and a guy we met at youth work training and his girlfriend. We went to the opening of a GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) Club. It was right in the middle of the Falls, a very Catholic neighborhood, which is a change for us. When we've gone out before, it's been in city center, which is fairly neutral ground. There was music, a gorgeous view, a new scene...

Sunday was low key, and fabulous. Church, to the botanic gardens to hear B and S playing with their band, out for coffee at Clements. I love that part of town, it has a completely different feel from North and West Belfast.

This week we've been organizing old papers in the youth office, addressing envelopes for the big 10th anniversary celebration next week, helping to plan out youth sessions. It's been the most consistent work yet. And we had a staff meeting today, which was pretty much amazing. I finally feel like I have some sort of handle on my schedule and what's going on over the next four months. Four months, then Christmas- that's crazy.

This evening F and I went for a walk on the towpath by the Lagan. It's so beautiful, following the river all the way into the next town.

It finally feels like the calm before the storm, and I am so ready for it.

I spent today in the most beautiful place. I was attending a training course called "Away From Violence" at Correymeela, a residential center on the coast. The grass was so green, the sea so deep blue, the sky so bright blue. The clouds still left room in the sky for the sun to shine, and the fushia and hydranga are still in bloom. There were rabbits everywhere. It was this little haven of peace, which makes the rest of today's events even more difficult to grasp.

First thing, in the taxi this morning, we were listening to a BBC newscaster asking Belfast callers how they felt about the taring and feathering of a man in a loyalist estate. Taring and Feathering. They tied him to a post, hooded, and covered him in tar and feathers and made him hold a sign that said "I am a drug dealing scumbag." The debate is over whether or not community should take the law into their own hands when they don't feel like they get enough support from the police. The frighteningly overwhelming response was yes, if the police won't do anything, we will.

Just after dinner tonight, we were called together, and the training drawn to a close due to another tragedy. A youth worker involved with the organization running the training was found dead in his home alongside his wife. Inital thoughts are that he killed his wife and then shot himself. The folks we were with just kept saying what a loss it was, how he was so great with the youth he worked with.

And then, our taxi driver home tonight had to take alternate roads because of rioting. Over football. The (Glasgow) Rangers qualified for the group stages of the Champions League, which apparently is cause for the local Catholic community to riot. As we drove through our roundabout there were at least seven of the big armored police trucks, crowds of people, calm and talking to police, and debris all over the road.

And that's just in Belfast.

Belfast Mela

I've been feeling a bit nostaligic this weekend, for all things pre-Belfast (meaning all things settled and comfortable), so this afternoon was a good bit of medicine. B, M and I went to the Belfast Mela in the Botanic Garden and I felt like I was at a festival back in the San Francisco Bay area. It's an annual festival for all things Indian (and a few things Chinese, Thai, Japanese). I ate AMAZING Indian food, saw a Bollywood dance team, some sort of wannabe Indian street band from Edinburgh (with two Indian looking drums, two snares, a trumpet, trombone, sax and bagpipes...). I was a bit dissapointed by the lack of crafters or artisans, but there were lots of community organizations seemingly looking to provide info to a minority population. The longest lines were at the tarot readers and henna painters, and a big old crowd gathered to watch the dog show done by the PSNI of agility, obedience and attack (right, I know, this isn't very Indian). It's just always good to be in a large crowd, feeling involved in the community.







We tried to get coffee afterward. The sign said to sit and relax and someone would be to take our order. We left after a long time and lots of people sitting way after us and ordering way before us and asking someone to take our order and still nothing. I don't think I've actually walked out of a place before...customer service is not the focus over here. So we found a Starbucks.

***
I went back to the neighborhood church this morning. I remembered that I did really like it when I went with L. I love the worship (and there's a possibility of singing with a worship team), and I love the effort they're putting into focusing on the local community, Ireland and the world. It's so refreshing to be in a church that's not forgotten that there's a big world outside of its door.

Giant's Causeway

Another road trip today. BI, a gentleman I met at church awhile back, set up and hosted a fantastic day for myself and three other international folks living or volunteering in Belfast. He drove us up the North Antrim Coastal Road, stopping at a hotel overlooking the Atlantic for a Cream Tea (coffee, tea, scones, jam, cream). Continued on through the Glens of Antrim, stopping often for photos (check out the link on the left) until we got to Ballycastle. The plan was to picnic at the harbour, but we got into town at the same time as the rain... The next stop was Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, one of the main tourist attractions in NI. It's this bridge that has been tossed across from the mainland to a wee island for over 350 years by salmon fishermen. And now it's a bit like disney world, with lines and lots of tourists and we all take pictures as we cross the bridge. It's an absolutely awesome location, though, with crystal-like water, and when we got there the mist was still sitting low on the hills. Thankfully, the rain cleared out and we moved onto Giant's Causeway. Wild. It's thousands (millions?) of these hexagonal posts created by volcanic activity. I was walking all over these rocks, trying to comprehend how they were created, and how they line the bottom of the ocean and appear again on the coast of Scotland...it makes my head hurt and makes me apprecate God's creativity in his creation of nature and its formations. From there we drove into Bushmills (home of the whiskey and old distillary) for tea at a chippy: traditional fish and chips. While eating we were treated to a local parade of the "Bushmills Protestant Boys" playing their fifes and banging their drums in all of their red, white and blue regala. And then home. So good. Thanks BI.

Seriously, I feel like I should be in Disney World floating past little mechanical mannequins that look like a conglomeration of all the people in the world. Or at least, the sound track should be my accompaniment. I walk into my first night of youth work level 2 training, and this lady looks really familiar, but I can't place her, so I think it's just one of those weird things. Until she introduces herself and I realize that she was my ninth grade history teacher. I am in BELFAST, 3000 miles away from home, and living 2 minutes away from a teacher I haven't seen in 10 years, who happens to be working with young people, and just now getting the local level youth worker qualification. Come on now, what are the chances?

The rest of the day seems mundane beyond that, but it was good. We helped with a funday in the park- playing twister and frisbee with kids and young people all day. It was great, warm, sunny, except for the £2 I payed for chips, which was just nuts. I think I am really having trouble remembering to live on a volunteer budget; all these goodbye parties don't help either. Meals out all day, two pubs and a taxi ride home just hurt.

Sketchy Blog Readers

Apparently people are reading my blog.

That is amazing, since, perhaps, TWO of you have sent me comments/thoughts/acknowledgement that you read it. I hearby deem you a "sketchy blog reader" if you are not one of the two. Come on folks, send some love...or at least let me know who is reading these random details about my life.

Craigavon

Today was class.

We took a short trip with the photo group to Craigavon for some banana boating. The yp were awesome, we had the best weather I've seen since arriving in NI, only one minor injury, and I got to go on the banana boat. It was a small group, 9 yp and 4 leaders, but I think the two groups are starting to mesh a bit, which is the point. The lake was beautiful, and really, there is nothing like riding on this big yellow raft with five other people only to get toppled into the water.

I sat in the van on the way home, the windows open and the warm air blowing around, surrounded by NI accents and young people and just felt completely content. Like I said, class.

Ulster Folk Museum

Today's rainy road trip was to Cultura and the Ulster Folk Museum. It's an open air museum, just like Colonial Williamsburg with a town and rural area. The buildings were all either actual buildings from around Ulster that had been dismanteled and rebuilt at the museum, copies of actual buildings, or buildings built to resemble those that really did exist. Three churches, a court house, police exhibit, schools, row houses, cottages, farms, pub, doctor, etc... there was tons to see (M, B and I meandered for about six hours). Most of the houses were from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, some were lived in all the way until the 1950s. Lots of photos in the link on the left. Enjoy!

Photo Project, again

While both youth workers were on holiday, J and I took four yp to Belfast Exposed for photo developing. We had only a minor mishap when the taxi driver and I both had the wrong address. We didn't realize it until the taxi left, and we had to hike across town, stopping every few blocks for directions. Thankfully, Belfast is a small city. The teens spent about an hour developing the photos they had taken, they were brillant. It was good fun to see how into it everyone was. Next time we go we'll have all the roles of film to print from, all the digital photos on computers, and the studio set up for studio shots. The folks at Belfast Exposed have been so good to us. The gallery was closed today for a special event (sad, I had wanted to see the current exhibit) but there was red carpet out front and real life models inside for, supposedly, the unveiling of a new coke can design. And while browsing, I noticed some postcards refering to a Belfast to Anacosia project. Turns out the guy we're working with spent awhile in Anacostia, living right in the middle of it and working on a photo exhibit. It's a small world.


An added bonus: Once the taxi driver figured out I was from the states he was excited to tell me about the time he drove Matthew Mcconaughey to Dublin. Too bad it's not THAT small of a world...

Highlights

It is all too easy to slack on writing once I skip a day/event, although, I suppose it's only been about a week since I last posted. Feels like much longer. So here are the highlights, minus deep thoughts:

Saturday, 4th August: St. George's Market, Belfast Pride Parade, City Hall Tour (it only took about four tries for me to make this tour happen...)




Sunday, 5th August: Checked out a new church. TONS of young people, good message (by a guest speaker), good worship (the guy who wrote "Days of Elijah" is their main leader, but in the states for the summer), but maybe a bit TOO much contemporary and nearly impossible to get to on a Sunday morning without a car.

Monday, 6th August: Saw Happily Never After with the wee ones. MUCH better than the Simpsons, which we saw last week (my apologies to any fans, but I truly thought it was awful).

Tuesday, 7th August; Hip Hop with the afterschools. So super. But those years of dance lessons sure don't show.

Wednesday, 8th August: Day trip on the train to Castle Rock with F, C, J and MS. We missed our first train...
played Uno on City Hall lawn

finally made it to Castle Rock

walked up the beach and coast to Massenden Temple and Downhill House. Amazing. (check out the link on the left for more photos)


Friday, 10th August: Belfast Hills Hike with C, F, R (visiting BVSer)


Saturday, 11th August: Day trip to Portaferry and Strandford (via bus) with R and N (visiting BVSers). These little towns are on the Ards Penninsula. By ferry they are 5 minutes apart, by car, 1.5 hours. We spent the day ducking the rain, sitting in coffee shops, eating the most amazing seafood chowder, crashing in the lobby of a hostel for a cup of tea and a sweet, following the walking tour guide. We got back to Belfast in time for AN's (another volunteer in Belfast) leaving do. We got drinks at a Maddon's pub while listening to Irish music and then began the hunt for a dance club that would let people in without id (since a few folks had left their's behind...) We ended up at Union Station, one of Belfast's premier gay bars, tunred it into our own little dance club, and rocked it. It was quite a night...it's nice to be a minority among ten Germans (three Americans) and eight guys (five girls).

Sunday, 12 August: Visited a church with a coworker. It was nice and very traditional. Again, a guest speaker, so I'll have to visit again when their new pastor is back from holiday.

Throw in a bit of work, a few episodes of Britain's Next Top Model, MANY Ultimate Uno games, two books (Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott- EXCELLENT, and The Pact, Jodi Picoult), lots of walking and public transport and that's my week. It's been super.

Photo Project, continued

This afternoon we took four yp from the Catholic side of the wall and six from the Protestant side on a tour of both neighborhoods. Before we started, we heard from two women who lived on the peaceline during the height of the conflict. They told us their stories of raising children before the wall went up, when the Catholics would hang out at the Protestant bonfires without incident. They remembered the violence, the people killled on their street corners, and the building of the wall. It began as barricades, and then filled in and grew taller and taller as people perfected the skill of throwing. We asked what it felt like to have the wall go up and they said it was like taking matters out of their hands. There was nothing more they could do, and now, they couldn't even see what was coming. All they would know was the stones, bricks, paint bombs that came flyng over the top. They told of how when the wall went up it bordered the Catholic ghetto, and now, it borders a Protestant ghetto instead. And both women were insistent that the young people in the group grab hold and change things. They urged them to dream for their community, to move forward and to be willing to Live for Belfast instead of the holding onto the mantra of the past: Die for Belfast.

From there we boarded a bus and drove through the streets of Woodvale and the Shankill (Protestand neighborhoods) and then through Ballymurphy, up the Springfield Road and the Falls Road (Catholic neighborhoods). Staff from Blefast Exposed brought nice cameras for the yp to use (they took, at least, hundreds of photos today) and we had tour guides give us tons of historical information. We saw murals, memorials, cemetaries, both sides of the wall, drove past mills and the old courthouse that connects to the Crumlin Prison. Of course, my personal camera was sitting at home on my dresser.

Today was super. Played all morning in a local park with the older afterschools, swam all afternoon with the wee ones. But the best was the bit of detached we did. A few years back the police in NI changed from the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) to the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland). Policing has been a major issue here since the RUC was largely a Protestant force. Popular opinion was that they weren't very fair and had their own agenda (to put it mildly). Recently, many old cases have been reopened in the hopes of airing out the collusion (A secret activity undertaken by two or more people for the purpose of fraud investorwords.com) that occured between the RUC and the Loyalist movement. So, basically, the police have had a tough time gaining any sort of authority. Positive changes have come; they recently have been given authority over neighborhoods that were paramiliary strongholds, they have strict new "positive discrimination" policies that require specific numbers of Catholic recruits, and a group called the District Policing Partnership has been created to encourage (require?) the PSNI to be accountable to its constituents.

Anyway...there's an effort to survey yp in Belfast to get their opinions on the PSNI. So we set out with the list of questions and ended up having really great conversation with some of our yp about their opinions and experiences with the police. While some were ranting just to rant, most had really intelligent things to say, and did bother to put a bit of thought into it. It was very cool to talk with them about something "bigger" than their plans for the night and how many fegs they smoke. And to top it off, they almost seemed to enjoy our company.

The Rough Life

I worked a full week finally...23.5 hours. I suppose it'll pick up even more this week as the afterschools summer scheme (the name for summer programs/summer camps in N.I.) starts and the photo project kicks into full swing.

It's been a good weekend, though. Friday was a "leaving do" for two German volunteers who head out in the next month (sad). Talk about a small little world of volunteers...turns out one of the volunteers had her German orientation with one of the guys I lived with in CA last year. But anyway, we ate out at The Kitchen Bar in City Center. To be fully N.I. I ordered "Paddy's Pizza" which is made on soda bread. Yum. Soda bread is, thus far, the best of N.I. eats. Then we hit up Frames, a low key place to shoot some pool or snooker. At least, that was the objective...I'm really, really bad at it.

Saturday night was a BBQ in our back garden, since it was L's last weekend in Belfast for a bit. The guys did an AMAZING job trimming trees and hedges and cutting the grass, and L cooked up a storm. (I washed some dishes...) Two other German volunteers came over and we ate, played ultimate uno, watched Ocean's 12 (thanks mom! stangely enough it plays on our DVD player), and roasted marshmallows over a fire in our fire pit. I wasn't quite expecting to come to Belfast and find myself sitting around a fire with five Germans, but basically, the whole weekend was fantastic.

Photo Project

The main group of young people I'm working with this summer is involved in a photography project. They take photos of where they hang out, their homes, the chinese and chippys they frequent, their side of the peace wall. Then, they meet with a group from the other side of the wall, with the end product of an album (print or online) of the photos both sides have taken. We met with the other group for the first time tonight. The groups went bowling together (I didn't go, I had to be at the center for afterschools stuff) and then to hear two ex-paramilitary men talk. It was really interesting to hear a former UVF man and a former IRA man give their thoughts on Belfast today. Both did jail time, and both are now working in the community to improve the quality of living in Belfast. The first man who spoke had some really great things to say to the yp about how you can stand for a cause without taking up arms, and how it doesn't ever need to come to killing. He was telling them that it's okay to go against the crowd and be different. It was just so wild to sit in a room and hear these men talk about all the events, people, and opinions that I have read about. Belfast today is so different, than even 10 years ago, they said, and it definately gave me a bit of historical context.

I'm pretty excited about the rest of the project, too. Next week we're supposed to take a tour with both groups through their neighborhoods. Most have never seen the other side of the wall or the neighborhoods behind them. I think there's also some water sports coming up, and maybe even developing their own photos in a darkroom. It's sometimes tough to picture the yp getting a lot of out of these events because they can be so unruly and wild most of the time, but it was cool to see them all listening intently while the men were talking tonight (and we'll just try to forget the chair they threw down a flight of steps and the bucket of ice cream they dug into...)

The most beautiful day in Belfast

...the view from my bedroom on the most beautiful day in Belfast. That hill is Black Mountian, on a clear day you can see Scotland from that mountain. The big building in the center of the photo is the church I've gone to a few times. Last week we sang Blessed Be, and they played Power of Your Love. Good times.

I was reading Ephesians this morning, ch 2:11-22. It's all about how the Gentiles are welcomed into the church just as the Jews, how strangers and foreigners invited in and all are considered one in Christ. The exact wording hit me today though, specifically in relation to Belfast. "For he...has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility..." Christ came to "reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility." He must be so sad to see the walls that have gone up here, those that use his name as a convienient front for their political disagreements.
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The main pastor at church is away for summer holiday, so a lady has been leading the services. We're reading through Ruth, and this Sunday she read the scripture as a dramatic reading, except, she didn't read, she had it memorized. They had music timed for the reading and I think it was the most vivid a Bible passage has ever been for me. Later in the service she did a monologue from the point of view of Ruth. It's always so amazing how different, how powerful, scriptures seem when you can picture the people they are about.
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We had an organizational meeting today at FS. We (they) evaluated last year's programming and planned for this year. It was really helpful to get concrete information about what they did and what they are doing. It was super exciting to sit and plan with D (full time youth worker). And then...I had an appointment with the GP (general practitioner/doctor)...talk about intimidating. I walked into reception and there are about 5 rows of chairs, all facing the front desk and this big sign that flashes your name when it's your turn. It tells you which office to head to, and then you walk through another door and look hastily around for the correct door, walk in and there's the doctor, sitting, waiting...weird.

So I have new roommates. J and MS moved in yesterday. It's good to have people around the house. It's a bit like resettling into Belfast...for the 3rd time. I had my initial move in, and then part two when I came back from Germany and got used to being here on my own, and now again, with a full house and real work schedule.

We went out to a nice Italian restaurant, and then spent the afternoon walking around town. We walked through Queen's Quarter, near Queens University, and then past City Center and over to the Cathedral Quarter. We had a really nice sit right on the river (I don't know if you can have a "sit" but now you can). It's amazing how close everything is when you're not confined to using the one way streets and bus routes. Photos are posted, but here's a few to get you hooked and entice you to click on the link :)

Photos Added!

Hi friends,
I have finally figured out how to make my photos accessible (I think...). So, the links are on the left hand side of the page, enjoy!!

Last week was the BVS Europe retreat in Bonn, Germany. It was a wonderful week to relax, explore Germany and get to know the other BVSers who are working in Europe. They are doing some amazing things...other than the four of us who are doing cross community work in NI, there were people working in Serbia (with an international peace network made up of women around the world), Hungary (with an eccumenical organization linking Christian students throughout Europe), Bosnia (working in the arts and film with young people in a war torn area) and Germany (with people who have developmental diabilities). We ate and drank foods from each country, had good conversations re: self care, secularism and the misuse of religion, current events. I also got to visit a German history museum (focused on post WW1), eat lunch on the banks of the Rhine River, and visit a castle in and around Bonn, and spend a day in Cologne touring the huge cathedral, other churches and Beethoven's Birth Home (scratch that- that was in Bonn too). I'm still rather in awe of the transportation system across Europe; my trip home required streetcar to train to plane to bus to taxi to minibus, and it was all remarkably easy.

This week has been one big attempt to get myself motivated to get out of the house. I've worked just a few hours (more on that in a minute) and haven't had any roommates (they move in tomorrow) so it's tempting to sit and read or just bum around all day. I did read 2 Jodi Picoult books (Salem Falls and The Tenth Circle- both good, but don't read them back to back, they are too similar), move into the orange room (which I love) and generally just poke around the house cleaning out linen closets and refrigerators. BUT, I did manage to get up and about and I can proudly say that I am a bus riding genius. Yesterday I ended up downtown running errands and scoping out good coffee shops. Today I managed to get myself to Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park for the end of Rose Week. They have all these roses from all over the world, and they are judged each year. So it becomes a big event with acrobats, bands, magic shows, face painting and lots and lots of beautiful roses (see photos!!). It was probably not a bad thing that my camera batteries were dying or else I would have thousands of photos. They were the most vibrant reds, pinks, yellows, oranges, whites and every little park led into another. I was just meandering through the mud and roses and all of the sudden there's harp music from a gazebo one section over...seriously, all I needed was a tea cup.

And in the midst of the fun this week, I even worked a bit. We'e been out on "detached." Basically that means that we walk a route that goes through all of the neighborhoods that we work with looking for yp out and about. We hit up the parks and the corners that they're typically on and just say hello and chat for a bit. We've brought a bit of sports equipment, but haven't yet found any groups interested in playing. Most of the yp who come through the club are recruited via outreach, so we see lots of the yp who were on the residentials, and some who used to come but haven't for awhile. It's just so different than growing up in a suburb. I try to think of something equivalent from home, and just draw a blank. No one hung out on street corners and parks (or maybe I wasn't cool enough :) ). Sometimes no one's about, it was actually a quiet few nights, but in general we can predict who will be in which location, and they're just there hanging out all night. At this point it's a bit tough to throw myself right into it, I'm still desperately trying to work out the accent and the slang (a week of German and American accents didn't help!) but eventually, I think it'll be very cool, and a very good way to work on conversation starting skills!

Next week I start up full time, and with two new roommates things should all change a bit...

oh, and today's the 4th of July. Happy Independance Day to all you Americans :) (it's nothing too special over here!)

Rain, Rain, Rain, Falling on my window pane

(major props if you know what the title of this post refers to)

A few shout outs...
Kristin and Sarah O, thank you for encouraging me to buy the raincoat from Old Navy. It came in handy today.
Heather, I went to a pub tonight...the beer was good (there was something else I meant to write to you, but I forget what.)
To all those I may have confused, I did not see coyotes in N.I., I saw them when I decided to hike Mission Peak in CA, which happens to be the last time I went hiking.

And now on to the play by play of the day...
I had weird dreams last night. I was back in 8th grade, and ended up missing my bus home. I finally found some folks in a nearby store to take me home, since walking wasn't an option. But I never got there because then I was on a family vacation, except no one wanted to be there because it meant getting up early...it was tragic. It woke me up crazy early. So I went back to sleep. I waited for the rain to pass before walking to work (I'm learning that it's best to look at the clouds in the NE. If it's clearing up, you're golden for a bit...is this an accurate hypothesis?). At FS, I got squared away as to my work schedule for the next few weeks. Then we went to a pub. It was my first pub experience in N.I. Nothin' too special, except I think it's the first time I've actually finished the drink set in front of me. And now I am home for an evening of That 70's Show and CSI...exciting day, huh?

Belfast Time

I'm learning that time is a fluid thing here. Plans aren't so rigid, you gotta just go with it. The only plan for today was to tour City Hall. I did a lot of other things, but never made it to City Hall. Good thing I have a bit more time to try and get there. Instead, I hung out with A, a FS volunteer who's actually from Belfast. We ran some errands, had lunch in a great sandwich shop (cheese is all shredded, they ask if you want butter and mayo, and lettuce/tomato/cucumber all fall under "salad?" it was all a bit confusing), checked out this fabulous portrait studio (http://www.thisisventure.co.uk/), a boutique or two, and ended at Starbucks. It was really good quality time to get to know her before she heads of for holiday in America.

This evening I met up with two other Belfast BVers, M and B, who work on Black Mountain at a cross community center. There's actually 5 international volunteers there right now, so they invited me to join them for Shrek the Third. Crazy Tuesday = £2.50 movies. I still didn't love the movie a second time around, but it was really great to get out of the house for the evening and meet people who I've know through email and by name for months.

I actually have to go into work tomorrow, I suppose that's what I'm here for- but I head to Germany on Saturday for a retreat with all of the European volunteers (all nine of us...). More about that later...

Belfast Castle

Since it's quiet around FS this week, I have today and tomorrow off. With neither of my roommates home, I was on my own to figure out how to spend the day. So I went walking. I didn't have a goal in mind, I just wanted to explore. I went up around the corner on the main road and then back to Ballysillan Road. L mentioned that if you walked far enough on Ballysillan, you'd come to Cave Hill. So I walked. And walked. I passed a bunch of shops, take out places and chippies, lots of churches, and a few gorgeous look out points. I stopped to take some photos of a wall mural, only to find out that the batteries in my camera were dead, so no photos today.

After about two miles I hit a new road, and a sign for Belfast Castle. I had no idea where the Castle was except that it's on Cave Hill. I guess I became a bit obsessed with seeing it, so I started following the signs, and eventually, I made it. It's a beautiful buidling, but by the time I got there all I could think of was refilling my water bottle and just being glad I made it. I skipped out on the vistor center (I figure I'll go again when Mom and Dad come in the spring), but was totally enjoying the AMAZING weather and the view of (i think) Belfast Lough. The Castle is in the middle of Cave Hill Country Park, so I took a trail back, cutting out a good corner of the walk.

So I'm walking this trail, passing families with dogs, keeping an eye out for the trail markers and thinking about the last time I thought about hiking and decided not to when 3 coyotes crossed right in front of me. I was thinking how glad I was that I am completely ignorant of any large wild animals of Northern Ireland and I realize that it's getting a bit dark for 3pm. The clouds were moving in...and it rains. My umbrella wasn't much use in the wind and rain, but at least it was warm today.

To top of the evening, I'm watching International Gladiators. Yep, it's just what you think, almost the olympics of gladiating (that's a good word...)

Tomorrow's another day off, any suggestions for what I should do?

PS. Belfast has palm trees. Weird.

Residential: take 2

I've spent the last hour and half reading other people's blogs, trying to work up the desire to write this one. It's been a super weekend, but the thought of putting it all into words is exhausing.

We had another residential, with a different group of yp. Since we've been banned from the center in Enniskillen, the youth worker scrambled around and found us an Adventure Center in Omeath, Ireland. I was pretty excited about my frist trip into the Republic, but let me tell ya, crossing state lines is a bigger deal. Except for roads signs in both English and Gaelic, and having to spend euros instead of pounds, you'd never know the difference.

This trip was a major improvement over the last one. We made it through the whole weekend, and I think the staff at the center rather enjoyed the group. They were definately "spirited" but mild compared to last week. It wasn't so much a cross commnity trip, since only two of the Protestant yp decided to come, but there was a big Orange Order (Protestant) parade this weekend (Whiterock), and apparently, the group hasn't participated as much in the center based program all along.

(sidenote: the parade has been contentious in the past, since they want to march through the gates and into a Catholic area. According to the BBC article I read, it was a pretty calm event this time around.)

So we went to Omeath. It was fabulously beautiful. On Friday night we kayaked from the center to the pier in town (3 miles round trip), all the while watching a brilliant sunset over the mountains (since it doesn't get warm in this part of the world they wear wet suits for all the water activities. It is impossible to feel confident in a wet suit.) The yp were mostly great, not whining too much, until we get to the pier. There's a whole group of younger kids and dogs milling about, who quickly decided it would be fun to throw stones at us. (I think it's in the blood of the Irish, to throw stones). It got our yp a bit riled up, but since we were in kayaks there wasn't much to be done.

They didn't sleep on Friday night. I got about 4 hours of shut eye, letting our paid staff members camp out in the hall and deal with the constant action. And Saturday we had to stay on the yp to keep them awake (which worked- we got a good amount of sleep on Saturday night). We went out to another pier for an entire morning of banana boating (n the rain), played hockey, climbed a wall, ran a blow up obstical course, played archery games and went on a beach walk to the town. There are some really great yp in the group we were with (of course, they're all really great...right?), so it was a good weekend.

I was home alone for the evening, but a friend from work stopped by. After talking for a bit she offered to take me on a driving tour of Belfast. It was excellent- we drove down to the water (a pivotal moment in both BVS placements...seeing the San Francisco Bay and the River Lagan), saw the Harland and Wolff crane (shipbuilders of the Titanic), plenty of nightclubs, the house of a man so obsessed with Elvis that he has a statue over his front door, plaques and all sorts of memorabilia across the front, back through the City Center, city hall, Albert clock, Queens University. We also drove down both sides of the peace wall. I'll have to go back during the day and take some photos, it's just this towering wall of concrete and metal. From the Protestant side it's all grafitti and broken glass and stones, with houses that back right up to it. On the Catholic side it borders the Springfield Road, it's landscaped, and much less threatening.

Here are photos from the residential...at times I wished I could ditch the group and just go around and photograph, but here's what I came up with on the fly, and trying to avoid getting people in the shots (apparently I'll have a whole few years of beautiful countyside and no people...gotta love child protection)